Mirror Image
by MystykFyre
Summary: It's time for Alice to return home, and she isn't quite satisfied with how Hatter treats her during their parting. However, she's ready to go back to a somewhat normal life... if she can make it out of Wonderland alive.
1. Chapter 1

The glass shivered in its ornate gold frame, with a mechanical keening like a heavy piece of machinery starting up. However, it still worked as a mirror, and Alice couldn't mistake the shape she saw at the back of the hall. She turned, unable to believe it. Had he really come? "Hatter!" she called in excitement.

He turned back to face her, which struck her as odd. Why had he been facing towards the door? Had he been trying to leave? "Alice! Hey!" he said with a laugh, half-jogging back towards her. "Hey, I was... I was afraid I might have missed you."

"Yeah, you cut it a little close," she said, glancing around. Why had he been trying to leave? Didn't he want to say goodbye?

"I... I guess I was trying not to think about it-anyway, I wanted to say goodbye," he replied, seeming to rush the second half.

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Goodbye?" she repeated, making it sound like a question.

"And if you... you know, ever fancy coming back...?"

"You want me to stay?" she asked, suddenly hopeful again. _He wants me to stay? I know I need to go back, but he wants me to stay-_

"Hell no!" he said with a laugh, his voice a bit higher than usual. Her face fell. "No, I... I think you should go home," he said.

She tried to hide her disappointment as she glanced around again. "Yeah, I think I've had enough of Wonderland for a lifetime," she said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

He laughed. "Yes, I am sure you have. Still we... we had a laugh, you know? Had some good times. Obviously, among all the... bad times," he said, his face making her chuckle. He looked down at her and spread his arms out from his sides a little. "We... we should...?"

She hesitated for a moment, then they hugged for a second. It was tense and awkward, not like it had been back at the Casino. What had happened between them? Had she said something? Had she not said something? Was it something she had done? She pulled away and looked up at him, confused. "You know, you could always visit my world," she said with one last, fleeting hope. "You might like it."

"Yeah," he said, but it seemed that he was faking his enthusiasm. "We could... we could do pizza."

She smiled at his attempt to amuse her. "And lots of other things."

One of the lab techs came over and grabbed her arm. "Alice, please."

Hatter raised his eyebrows. "Really? I was just-"

Alice turned back to look at him as she was led away. For just that second, she saw something in his eyes-reluctance, maybe? Concern?

Or was it something more?

The man in the lab coat led her up to the mirror, and her breath started coming in nervous gasps. "Just force yourself to breathe," the man instructed, and then she was shoved roughly through the liquid surface of the mirror.

Her thoughts were scrambled. Sounds and colors swirled by her in a confusing blur, an invisible force pressed in on her from all sides, making it difficult to breathe, and she was falling through the tunnel again...

Then, with a terrible screeching noise, she was jerked to a halt. Confusion and panic gripped her. What was going on? The colors and sounds confirmed that she was still in the tunnel...

A rough force, like a careless hand, flipped her around. Now, colors and sounds swarmed in reverse, and she felt a searing pain on her left side. Instead of falling, she was being pulled upward again, and there at the end of the tunnel was the ornate gold-framed Looking Glass. Through it, she could see the Oysters waiting to go home, she could see Jack and the lab techs, and she could see Hatter, staring at her with shock and concern.

She broke through the end of the tunnel, landing facefirst on a hard stone floor. "Ow," she muttered in shock. Her side hurt like hell, and it felt hot and sticky too.

Like blood.

She started to feel dizzy. She was aware of someone by her side, holding her hand. A familiar voice spoke worriedly. "Alice. Alice, love, I'm here, it'll be okay."

And then she was falling again, but not through a tunnel. This time she fell into blackness, into a blissful escape from the pain. She fell into peaceful black unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Hatter sighed as Alice was led away by the technician. After all they'd been through in the past week, it was finally time for her to leave... and he found himself wishing that she could stay. He knew she had to go home to her world, that her mother would be waiting for her, but he still wanted just a little more time with her. After all, he hadn't found the courage yet to tell her what he really wanted to say...

_Alice, I think I love you,_ he said in his mind, watching sadly as she was half-led, half-dragged towards the Looking Glass. She looked back, just for half a second, and he saw something in her eyes that he just couldn't place. Was it regret, maybe? Loss? Hope?

He rather hoped it might be something more.

_No. I can't get my hopes up. She doesn't love me. She has the goddamn King falling over himself to answer her every whim. She doesn't need someone like me. I can only slow her down._

He hid the pain he felt as he looked at her one last time. "Just force yourself to breathe," the techie ordered, and she gasped as the man roughly shoved her into the mirror. The glass rippled like liquid, and then his Alice was gone.

Hatter sighed. She was gone, and she wasn't coming back. Time to head home. He started towards the door-

and then everyone heard it. A low mechanical whining sounded from the mirror's control panel, sounding much like a machine powering down. Hatter whirled around to stare at it, like everyone else was doing. "What the bloody hell was _that_?" he demanded, his eyes widening in panic as he saw the men and women in lab coats swarming the control panel. None of them answered, but Hatter saw the answer for himself as one of them opened the compartment that contained the ring.

The ring with the Stone of Wonderland was cracked cleanly in half, each of the two halves perfectly mirroring the other. The whining sound got louder, and then faded away as the Looking Glass lost all power. Hatter paled. _Oh God. Alice is in there. Alice!_

He took a step towards the mirror, and then he saw her. He literally saw her, standing inside the mirror. At first she was just a ghostly image, and then her form solidified, and seemed to approach. Hatter was somewhat relieved at first... and then his face paled even further as he saw her left side. The left side of her blue dress was stained red and dripping blood.

There was dead silence in the giant hall as she emerged through the mirror's surface again, broken only by the dull thump she made as she hit the stone floor. "Ow," she muttered, obviously shocked.

The spell was broken. Doctors and nurses swarmed around her, and several Oysters and Suits alike were pushed out of Hatter's way as he ran to her side. He gasped as he saw all the blood dripping from her left side and onto the floor. _How could this happen to her? Alice... _"Alice. Alice, love, I'm here, it'll be okay," he said, taking her hand gently in his. He didn't know if she could hear him or not, but he felt like he had to say something. "Alice. Alice. Hang on, Alice, I'm here. Alice." He repeated her name over and over again, dumbly, almost with no emotion left. He was almost numb from the shock of seeing her, seeing her blood on the floor, and not being able to do anything about it.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to back up for a moment, please." Hatter felt someone push him gently away from Alice, his Alice, and they put her on a stretcher to carry her outside. She looked small and fragile and broken. Nothing like his Alice. He followed the stretcher outside, and a worried nurse absently agreed to let him come with them to the hospital. _Alice. Oh God, Alice. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault._

He almost didn't feel the tremors that rocked the ground, inside the hall and out. However, he did hear the powerful voice that spoke, the deep voice that seemed to resonate from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was a voice he did not recognize, but one that stirred up emotions deep within him, emotions like anger and hate. Suddenly his vision was clouded with red.

"You have been warned."

The four simple words left a shocked silence in their wake. A bitter taste lay on the air, making it heavy as if preparing for a storm. For a moment that lasted a lifetime, no one said a word.

Then an Oyster woman screamed.

Chaos erupted.


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark.

Alice couldn't see. There was only blackness all around her. _What's going on? Where am I?_ she wondered.

Then the memories came rushing back. Hatter. The pain in her side. The Looking Glass-_Oh God, the Looking Glass!_ It had malfunctioned, hadn't it? Something had gone wrong. She had been pulled back through to Wonderland instead of returning to her world like she should've. What had gone wrong? And what about the sharp pain in her side that she had felt?

"Did you like my 'coming home' gift, little Oyster?"

Alice jumped, looking around again. It was still black all around her-she couldn't see anyone. "Who-who are you?" she asked, trying to keep the shock and fear out of her voice.

"No one you should be concerned with," the voice replied, almost sounding like it was purring. "Merely one who seeks to alter Wonderland's future."

"What do you want from me?" Alice demanded. If only she could see who was talking, then she might be able to place the voice that sounded so familiar...

"From you?" the voice asked with a soft laugh. "You've already served your purpose. You were merely my warning to the others. No one is to leave Wonderland without my consent, see... if I can't have the Looking Glass, then no one can."

"Why are you keeping us here?" God, that voice was so familiar, and yet it wasn't at the same time! Why couldn't she place it? She was sure she had heard it before...

The voice chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the fun..." Before Alice could respond, the voice spoke again. "Hmm... now what to do with you... that was quite a show you put on a while back. Almost single-handedly overthrowing a tyrant and bringing down the House of Cards... much like the old Alice of Legend, aren't you...? And with the Looking Glass! Dear, dear, all the scientists agree that the little stunt I pulled would've killed any Oyster. No one knows how you survived... But this puts me in a bit of a dilemma, see. I can't reach my goal with you in the way."

"Goal? What goal?" Alice asked, her breath catching in her throat. She didn't like the threatening tone the voice was using now.

"Nothing you need to live for..."

Alice barely had time to register the threat when a low, cat-like growl sounded from somewhere near her. "What the-?" the voice began, but there was a feral screech and a yowl and the voice cried out, seemingly in pain. When it spoke again, Alice got the impression that it was angry-angry and infinitely more dangerous than before. "Your little pet may have protected you this time, little Oyster, but mark my words... I will get what I want..."

The voice trailed off into nothing, and Alice's eyes flew open. Finally she could see. She was in a hospital room. Hatter was standing over her, and his eyes widened as he saw she was awake. "Alice?"

The second thing she noticed was the cat on the ceiling.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Bit of a filler chapter, and I apologize in advance if it seems to drag on and on forever. Trust me, that's how it seemed when I was writing it ^^; Please review! I especially love theories on how the story's going to turn out from here 3 Those who review, you are awesome, awesome people, and you make me and my penguin pal very happy.**

Hatter paced the hospital room for a while after the doctors left. They had informed him that the Looking Glass's malfunction had somehow caused a "severe laceration" in Alice's side-whatever the hell _that_ meant. They still had no ideas as to why this injury could've happened, but a kind nurse informed him that, fortunately, the cut was not too severe. Once cleaned up and sealed with stitches, Alice would be perfectly fine, and the wound would heal quickly, only leaving a slight scar if she was lucky.

However, that didn't mean she'd be quick to wake up.

Alice had passed out almost five hours ago from shock and blood loss, and the Wonderland medicines hadn't been made for treating Oysters. The anesthetics they had used had proved to be a bit too powerful-nothing that would cause permanent damage, but still enough to keep her unconscious for hours more.

Three hours had passed since the end of the minor surgery, and Hatter was still waiting for his Alice to wake up.

He had taken to wandering the hospital hallways every once in a while, and had found some invaluable information. While the doctors had no idea as to exactly how the Looking Glass's malfunction had injured Alice, they all agreed that with all they knew about the Looking Glass now, no normal Oyster would have survived a malfunction that severe. After hearing this, it had taken all of Hatter's self-control not to punch the wall in frustration-Alice had come so close to death, again. He had left the hallway then and returned to Alice's room to calm down.

He sighed now, and walked over to stand next to the head of her bed. _Nobody knows how you survived, Alice, but I'm glad you did,_ he thought as he gazed down at her. _I promise that it'll be okay. I'll make it right. If-no, when you get out of this, I promise that I'll do whatever I can to make you happy again._

He looked down at her again, and then his eyes widened when he saw her eyes snap open. "Alice?" he asked cautiously. The doctors had said she wouldn't be awake for another hour at least. At least, most Oysters would have been unconscious for another hour after receiving the anesthetics, by their calculations.

His mind was returned to her as he heard her gasp, and it became clear that she was not looking at him. He turned to stare at the spot on the ceiling that had caught her attention, but to his confusion, there was nothing there, just the faintest wisp of smoke. He turned back to her, concerned and more than a little frightened. "Alice? Are you alright?"

She focused on him, glanced back at the ceiling for a moment, and then shook her head, seeming confused. "Yeah. I'm alright. I... I think." She managed to sit up in the hospital bed unaided, and leaned against the wall, looking around. "Where are we?"

"One of the city's many hospitals," he answered, moving to sit in the chair beside her bed.

Her eyes grew shocked and concerned. "Hospital? Why a hospital?"

Hatter bit his lip. "Well, you see... I don't know how much you remember, but... there was a problem with the Looking Glass," he explained, deciding to skirt around just how severe that problem was. "Somehow, in trying to get you out of the tunnel before it closed, the Looking Glass managed to give you a cut in your side. Nothing really serious, but it needed stitches. You should be fine to go tomorrow, according to the doctors."

Alice looked around, and with some apprehension he noted how her eyes always seemed to touch the same spot on the ceiling, as if she were looking at something. Agitated, Hatter turned to look at the spot again, but again he saw nothing but the faintest wisp of smoke. "What the bloody hell are you looking at?" he demanded, getting annoyed. "If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny, Alice."

Alice looked at him and bit her lip. "Sorry," she whispered, and his irritation immediately melted away at the look on her face. "Anyway..." she continued. "Um, did anything... strange happen...? After I passed out?" He looked confused, so she continued. "Like... did anyone hear voices or anything?"

Hatter's eyes widened. _How could she know about that?_ "Um, no," he lied, not looking at her. "No voices."

"Tell the truth," she whispered.

He looked back at her. Her voice hadn't been loud, but it held a note of command he couldn't ignore. "Yes," he admitted. "Everyone heard it. The same voice."

"What did it say?"

"It said..." He bit his lip again, not meeting her eyes. "It said 'You have been warned'."

She muttered something that sounded like 'I was right'. "Sorry?" Hatter asked, not sure he had heard her correctly.

"Never mind," she replied, and this time it was her not meeting his eyes. He could tell she was holding something back, but he left it alone, not wanting to upset her. "Um, why did you... you know, want to know about voices?"

She sighed. "I have to tell you something, Hatter. You're going to think I'm crazy, but I swear I'm telling the truth." He adjusted his position in the chair, showing he was ready to listen. She took a breath and began, "While I was unconscious, I had a... a dream, I guess. And in it... I heard a voice. Just one voice. And it sounded like it was really somebody speaking, I could hear them right beside me, but I couldn't see who it was. And the voice sounded familiar," she added. "But the voice said that... they had made the Looking Glass malfunction. They made it happen because they didn't want anyone to leave Wonderland without their permission. And then it... threatened to kill me," she said in a soft voice.

Hatter's eyes grew wide. "It _what_?"

"Please, let me finish," Alice said. Hatter immediately grew quiet. Alice continued. "Then... there was a sound like a growl and a hiss, like from a cat, and then the voice cried out in pain and said something like... even though my 'pet' had protected me this time, it wouldn't rest until it had achieved its goal. And then I woke up," she finished.

Hatter sat back in his chair, stunned. "You said you'd heard this voice before?"

"Yes," she said, and nodded. "I couldn't quite place it, though. It sounded familiar, but changed somehow. I couldn't recognize it."

Hatter's eyes grew concerned. "We have to figure out what's going on. This is Wonderland; dreams here usually aren't just dreams."

"Like that dream about the Cheshire I had," Alice recalled.

Hatter looked at her, confused. "The what?"

"I dreamed about a Cheshire cat that night I... after we had met Charlie," she said, averting her eyes from his. "It led me through the woods, to a tree stump with a door in it, and when I walked through the door I was in my old house from when I was ten. It showed me..." She tried to hold back tears. "It showed me the day my dad had left."

Hatter looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"It wasn't important," she said. "I just had a stupid dream about a cat."

"A dream about a Cheshire cat," he corrected, "and not a stupid one. Cheshires only appear for a reason, and there's never been a record of one appearing to an Oyster before-except for Chess, the one that helped the first Alice of Legend," he amended. "Cheshires usually only appear for some purpose or another. The one in the woods may have been trying to show you something. And-hang on," he said as he realized something. "You said you heard a cat in your dream now, right?"

Alice nodded, seeing where he was going. "You think that was a Cheshire too?"

"Well, it would make sense," he said. "Once a Cheshire has appeared to someone, they tend to target that person again... Alice, I think you're protected by Cheshires," he joked.

The cat on the ceiling cackled, unheard by either of them, and only seen by the girl. "You think~?" it asked in a singsong voice, stretching luxuriously-though still upside-down, standing on the ceiling like it would on the floor. "I think that's a pretty smart guess, Hatty-boy~"

The cat felt a presence approaching, and it hissed. It jumped down from the ceiling and landed in Alice's bed, taking the form of her deceased cat, Dinah. "Don't worry, precious Alice, Dinah will protect you," it crooned, settling in against her side like any normal cat would.

It smiled as it appeared to fall asleep, an impossible grin that stretched from ear to ear.


End file.
